Using Ukraine to destroy EU agriculture
The grain from Ukraine is flooding European markets
Ukrainian grain is flooding European markets! Is there a reason for this to happen? There surely is a reason. Initiated from the other side of the Atlantic. The United States is not only destroying EU manufacturing by imposing high prices of energy and shortage of the same. War in Ukraine that is now openly inflamed by NATO-led by interests of the Anglo-American criminal gang. It is also used to destroy European agriculture.
Farmers in Poland, Bulgaria and France rioted against the collapse or the prices of some agricultural products.
Eastern European states hit the most – another coincidence?
The EU has discovered an unexpected problem in grain imports from Ukraine. Although its import helped to stabilize prices, it caused significant friction with local farmers. Agricultural products poured into the markets of Eastern Europe. There, unlike Western Europe, did not experience problems with drought and crop failures this summer. As a result, prices in local markets fell, leading to massive discontent among farmers, mostly owners of small farms. The fall in prices against rising prices for fuels, lubricants and fertilizers became a heavy blow for them. Especially because these deliveries to the European market were not planned.
In July, Russia and Ukraine, through the mediation of Turkey, signed an agreement on supplying Ukrainian grain to world markets through the ports of the Black Sea. According to the Ukrainian side, at the end of July, there were about 20 million tons of grain and sunflower seeds in the storage facilities. This is likely a strong exaggeration, but in any case, it was about millions of tons.
It was assumed that the lion’s share of supplies should be sent to developing countries. They are traditionally the main market for Ukrainian agricultural exporters. The reality turned out to be somewhat different. By mid-September, Turkey and Asian states received 47% of the grain. 17% went to Africa, and 36% went to the European Union. EU previously bought relatively little grain from Ukraine. The most interesting thing is that this did not require opening ports at all. Most of the exports to European countries went by rail.
There was no shortage of these products in Europe and EU in particular
It should be noted that, despite the drought, European grain harvests, in general, remain in order. As recently as July, the US Department of Agriculture predicted a fall in yields in relation to 2021 by only a few per cent. This is all the more true for Poland, where, in fact, there was no serious drought, and the amount of precipitation in spring and summer was about 70–90% of the norm, which is quite enough to harvest a good harvest in Polish conditions.
Poland is not the only country suffering from competition with Ukrainian grain. Romania (itself one of the largest exporters of wheat and corn in Europe) and Bulgaria faced the same problems. In the latter, mass protests took place, further shaking the already difficult political situation in the country. Bulgarian farmers and the politicians who represent them insist that the competition is unfair. Ukrainian producers are not required to comply with strict environmental standards, without which local products will not be certified. And, accordingly, their costs, other things being equal, are incomparably less. If import duties stopped earlier this problem, now they do not exist.
Discontent is also actively brewing in France, where farmers are faced with the appearance on the market of huge volumes of not only grain but also chicken, which in Ukraine has become a rather important export item. Poultry farmers are unhappy not only with falling prices but also with the fact that products from outside the EU take up a lot of space in warehouses and ports.
Do farmers matter to decision-makers in the EU?
Ultimately, it is the rural population, especially the farmers, who are one of the most politically active social groups in Europe. Violating their interests is economically harmful and dangerous in the long term in the socio-political sense. On the other hand, given how the Netherlands, with perhaps the most advanced and technologically advanced agriculture in the world, treats its farmers, it is possible that in the modern EU, the wealth and lifestyle of farmers do not matter so much to decision makers.
Let’s not forget several things:
1. It is estimated that around 1/3 of the agricultural land in Ukraine was sold to western, and particularly American corporations pushing GMO food on the rest of the world.
2. This is the way for Ukraine to pay part of the arms supplies,
3. This is helpful in efforts to blame Russia for any possible grain shortage in underdeveloped countries.
